There was a fire threat last night around my area (I live in the bush with 1000's of hectares of bush across the road). Our fire plan is to run once we have packed the essentials. In the end only the bush burnt, but I did have a chance to take a few slot items in my essentials kit, including 6 car power base and tower screen, 20 cars (out of 85) 2 x box sets (these are my spare parts an contain I guess around 15 metres of track) and a box of spares. So, what would be your 'essentials' if a fire threatened your slot collection?

I have rebuilt the track again, it's now onto it's 8th version. Major rebuild this time with all bridges/over passes removed.

Key elements include a chicane that has racing line cross tracks before and after, the impact cross road and 3 x S1 corners.

I have a race meet organised for Thursday night to test the track out. All the racers are experienced and have attended 3 or more meets in the past so it promises to be an exciting event.

I will trial a Kholo 3000 race, which is 3000 KM (scaled KM) race. IT will last for around 1.5 hours straight in 3 teams of 2 racers. Each racer has to complete a minimum of 40 minutes racing in two blocks (so around 20 minutes each twice).

I like the crossovers personally. It is a very efficient space saving device for my table when I build the tracks.

The crossover certainly leads to spectacular crashes and the occasional lasting damage. To manage this issue I have cars that I race at meets that are pretty much 'do as you please' type cars that I am not concerned about. Then I have a large number of cars (around 50) which I race alone or with trusted racers.

This track will be a great race track if people use some self control. It's certainly fun to race by myself (but every new track is great fun for the first 30 days).

I had a race meet this week on a new track. The meet was a cracker with a three way tie at the end of 5 races and the 6th and final race finished with a car length between 1st and 2nd.

The track is a smallish one this time, with room for a small drift track in the corner which was a little fun as well.

I used quite a few R1 corners this time, with this mid cornering section a real challenge.

The drift/test track in the corner was good fun too.

This was the first track I have designed with no pit stop in over 2 years. One great feature is that the track was able to be raced in both directions in digital. There is only a single lane change option in each direction. This was a popular feature (bi-directions) and one which I will include in future designs.

Track 14 - to be raced on Tuesday night with the club. The double hairpin at the end of the main straight will keep the racer honest, but the tight R1 in the middle of the track seems to be the one every one comes undone on.